𐰀𐰕

Old Turkic

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *āŕ (“few, very little”). Cognate with Karakhanid اازْ (āz, “scanty”), Turkish az (“few, little”), Turkmen āz (“few, little”), Bashkir әҙ (əź, “few, little”).

Adjective

𐰀𐰕 (āz)

1. few, scanty
   • 8th century CE, Bilge Khagan Inscription, E32

     𐰋𐰃𐰔:𐰔:𐰼𐱅𐰢𐰔:𐰖𐰉𐰔:𐰼𐱅𐰢𐰔

     biz:az:ertimiz:yabïz:ertimiz

     We were few and in a bad condition.

Adverb

𐰀𐰕 (āz)

1. a little

Alternative forms

• 𐰔 (az) (Orkhon Turkic)

Derived terms

• 𐰔𐰴𐰪𐰀 (azqïńa, “very few”)
• 𐰔𐰲𐰃 (azča, “a few”)

References

• Tekin, Talât (1968) “az”, in A Grammar of Orkhon Turkic (Uralic and Altaic Series; 69), Bloomington: Indiana University, →ISBN, page 306
• Tekin, Talât (1993) “az”, in Irk Bitig: The Book of Omens, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 51
• Clauson, Gerard (1972) “a:z”, in An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 727
• Starostin, Sergei, Dybo, Anna, Mudrak, Oleg (2003) “*Āŕ”, in Etymological dictionary of the Altaic languages (Handbuch der Orientalistik; VIII.8)‎^[1], Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Turkic *āŕ- (“to go astray, lose one's way”). Cognate with Karakhanid اازْماقْ (āzmāq, “to lose one's way”), Chuvash ур (ur, “to lose mind, go mad”), Turkmen āzmak (“to go astray”), Turkish azmak (“to go astray, to go mad”), Bashkir аҙыу (aźıw, “to lead immoral life, degenerate”).

Verb

𐰀𐰕 (āz-)

1. (intransitive) to go astray, to lose one's way
   • 9th century CE, Irk Bitig, Omen 15

     𐰴𐰆𐰽:𐰆𐰍𐰃:𐰆𐰲𐰀:𐰀𐰔𐱃𐰃:𐰚𐰃𐰘𐰃𐰚:𐰆𐰍𐰞𐰃:𐰘𐰇𐰏𐰇𐰼𐰇:𐰀𐰔𐱃𐰃:𐰚𐰃𐰾𐰃:𐰆𐰍𐰞𐰃:𐰖𐰆𐰺𐰃𐰖𐰆:𐰀𐰔𐱃𐰃

     quš:oɣlï:uča:āztï:kéyik:oɣlï:yügürü:āztï:kiši:oɣlï:yorïyu:āztï

     The young birds lost their way flying, the young deer lost their way running and the children lost their way walking.

2. (figurative, intransitive) to die, perish

   Synonym: 𐰇𐰠 (öl-)

   • 8-10th century CE, Begre (e-11), line 2:

     𐰚𐰇𐰥𐰀𐰖𐰀𐰔𐰑𐰢𐰀

     küneayaazdïma

     Alas, I separated from the sun and the moon.

Alternative forms

• 𐰔 (az-) (Orkhon Turkic)

Derived terms

• 𐰔𐰆 (azu, “or”)

References

• Tekin, Talât (1968) “az-”, in A Grammar of Orkhon Turkic (Uralic and Altaic Series; 69), Bloomington: Indiana University, →ISBN, page 307
• Tekin, Talât (1993) “az-”, in Irk Bitig: The Book of Omens, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 51
• Clauson, Gerard (1972) “a:z-”, in An Etymological Dictionary of pre-thirteenth-century Turkish, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 729
• Starostin, Sergei, Dybo, Anna, Mudrak, Oleg (2003) “*āŕ-”, in Etymological dictionary of the Altaic languages (Handbuch der Orientalistik; VIII.8)‎^[2], Leiden, New York, Köln: E.J. Brill